... More on Letts.

• Author: Milani, Natalie B.
• Position: Estate of Letts - Brief Article

In the previous item, it is fairly easy to see how the Tax Court could apply the consistency rule to the economic unit of the Letts family which, the court said, had "sufficient identity of interests." However, the results are much more uncertain in applying the consistency rule when the facts diverge significantly from those in Letts.

To avoid the need by either the IRS or the courts to repeatedly interpret the consistency rule in future cases, the President's 1999 Budget Plan proposes to amend Sec. 2044. The amendment would provide that, if a marital deduction is allowed with respect to...